Numbers 2:31

Summary

The verse gives the total muster count for the camp of Dan: 157,600 enrolled men. It also states that this group, together with its associated standards, will set out last in the order of march.

Key words

• pe.ku.Dim ("enrolled", H6485A) — qal passive participle, masculine plural: "those who have been counted/mustered," referring to the men previously enumerated in the census of this tribal camp.
• Ma.cha.neh ("camp of", H4264) — feminine singular construct, linking this noun to Dan: "the camp of Dan," identifying which group's total is being reported.
• 'a.cha.ro.Nah ("last", H314) — feminine singular adjective, preceded by la- ("to the"): describes the position in the marching sequence, "in the last [place]."
• yis.'U ("they will set out", H5265) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural: indicates a future or habitual action, "they will journey/set out."
• dig.lei.Hem ("their standards", H1714 + H9028) — masculine plural construct with third-person masculine plural suffix: "the standards belonging to them," marking the identifying banners under which the group travels.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a construct chain: kol-ha-pekudim le-machaneh Dan ("all the enrolled of the camp of Dan"), which sets up the subject as the total count belonging to this specific camp. The numerical value follows in a chain of cardinal numbers connected by the conjunction ve- ("and"): me'at 'elef ("hundred thousand"), ve-shiv'ah wa-chamishim 'elef ("and fifty-seven thousand"), ve-shesh me'ot ("and six hundred"), producing the sum 157,600. This numerical construction places the largest unit first (hundred-thousands), followed by ten-thousands/thousands, then hundreds, a common sequence in Biblical Hebrew number chains.

The final clause, la-'acharonah yis'u le-digleihem ("in the last [position] they will set out to their standards"), uses the qal imperfect yis'u to describe the marching order as a future/habitual action rather than a past narrated event, distinguishing it from the preceding census report. The phrase le-digleihem ("to/for their standards") reintroduces the "standard" terminology used elsewhere in this chapter to mark tribal groupings within the larger camp formation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders machaneh Dan ("camp of Dan") as τῆς παρεμβολῆς Δάν ("of the camp of Dan"), matching the Hebrew construct structure. Where the Hebrew states the total using three separate number terms (hundred, fifty-seven, thousand structure), the LXX gives ἑκατὸν καὶ ν΄ ἑπτὰ χιλιάδες ("a hundred and fifty-seven thousand"), consolidating the count differently in Greek numeral phrasing, though arriving at the same total. The Vulgate’s novissimi proficiscentur ("the last ones will set out") shifts the syntax from the Hebrew’s adverbial la-'acharonah ("in the last [place]") to an adjectival subject "the last ones," describing the group itself as "last" rather than describing the manner of their departure.